Gliosis is a biological process that occurs during injury repair in the central nervous system and is characterized by the overexpression of the intermediate filaments (IFs) glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and vimentin. A common thread in many retinal diseases is reactive Müller cell gliosis, an untreatable condition that leads to tissue scarring and even blindness. Here, we demonstrate ...

The regulation of cell type-specific expression of the gene encoding glial filament acidic protein (GFAP) was examined by introducing various deletion mutants of the gene into GFAP-expressing (U251 human astrocytoma) and non-expressing (HeLa) cell lines, and measuring their transcriptional activity in an RNAase protection assay. The expression of GFAP is influenced by a number of cis-acting ele...

We quantified the number of glial fibrillary acidic protein immunoreactive (GFAP-IR) astrocytes in the CA1 and CA3 areas of the adult rat hippocampus. The dorsal and ventral regions of the hippocampus were taken into account to estimate the GFAP-IR cells using unbiased stereological techniques. Males had a higher number of GFAP-IR astrocytes in the CA3 area, whereas females had more in the CA1 ...

Neuronal remodeling in response to deafferenting lesions in the brain can be enhanced by estradiol (E2). Astrocytes are among the targets of E2 in complex interactions with neurons and may support or inhibit neuronal remodeling. In ovariectomized female rats given entorhinal cortex lesions, E2 replacement inhibited the increase of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) protein. To model the rol...

The sympathetic nervous system (SNS) accelerates heart rate, increases cardiac contractility, and constricts resistance vessels. The activity of SNS efferent nerves is generated by a complex neural network containing neurons and glia. Gq G protein-coupled receptor (Gq-GPCR) signaling in glial fibrillary acidic protein-expressing (GFAP+) glia in the central nervous system supports neuronal funct...

Prions are infectious proteins that cause fatal neurodegenerative diseases. Because astrocytic gliosis marked by the deposition of fibrils composed of GFAP is a prominent feature of prion disease, we asked whether GFAP might be used as a surrogate marker for prions. To interrogate this posit, we inoculated prions into transgenic (Tg) mice expressing luciferase (luc) under the GFAP gene (Gfap) p...

OBJECTIVE This study aims to determine expression of Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein and of Alpha Smooth Muscle Actin (α-SMA) in hepatic stellate cells of CHC cases and their association with stage of fibrosis. METHODS The study was conducted at Ziauddin University, Clifton Campus during the year 2010-2012. Sixty Chronic Hepatitis C cases were immmunostained using anti α-SMA antibody and anti...

Glial fibrillary acidic protein-positive (GFAP(+)) cells give rise to new neurons in the neurogenic niches; whether they are able to generate neurons in the cortical parenchyma is not known. Here, we use genetic fate mapping to examine the progeny of GFAP(+) cells after postnatal hypoxia, a model for the brain injury observed in premature children. After hypoxia, immature cortical astroglia und...

Fish glial cells were obtained from cultivated segments of the optic nerve and raised in vitro. Two types of cells were identified as astrocyte- and oligodendrocyte-like glia by the monoclonal antibody Mab O1 (specific for oligodendrocytes) and the rabbit serum anti-goldfish glial fibrillary acidic protein (anti-G-GFAP). Cells of compact morphology were rare, and anti-G-GFAP positive and O1 neg...

INTRODUCTION α-Smooth muscle actin (α-SMA)-positive hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) are pericytes responsible for fibrosis in chronic liver injury. The glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), commonly expressed by astrocytes in the central nervous system, is expressed in vivo in the liver in a subpopulation of quiescent stellate cells. The reports concerning GFAP expression in human liver are sti...